I'm having a bit of strange problem with my 2000 TJ Sport (4.0, auto tranny). If anyone has a solution to my issue or if you know of an existing thread that explains the solution, please let me know. As an FYI, I can turn a wrench, but I'm not by any means a mechanic. And by the way, sorry for the book of a post, but I just want to make sure I provide as many details as necessary. OK, here we go...
The Symptoms:
I did some tinkering around on the Jeep this past Saturday and now I am having some issues with my accelerator. When I first start the Jeep up and begin moving everything is OK, but then after having driven a few hundred feet, there is absolutely minimal resistance for the first half inch or so as I apply pressure to the gas pedal. In fact, barely touching the pedal causes it to depress that half inch and the Jeep lurches forward; it's kind of like an all or nothing situation. I also noticed that if I let the accelerator depress that half inch where there is very little resistance I will continue to gain speed (I got all the way up to 65 MPH before letting up on the pedal) even without applying more pressure to the pedal (i.e. accelerator stayed in same position).
Another strange thing, I can be driving along experiencing the problem in drive and if I pull it down into second gear, the lack of resistance in the pedal will go away immediately, in fact the pedal almost feels a little too stiff. However, after 15-20 seconds in second, the lack of resistance starts up again.
I'm not sure if this is related or not, but I also noticed that when stopped at a red light with the transmission in drive, my RPMs will jump around between 500 and 1,000. It's not a huge increase, but it's noticeable.
What I did that Might Have Caused the Problem:
So, on Saturday I decided to see if I could figure out what was causing a tapping I've got in my engine (a whole other story), I decided that it was coming from the actual engine and not an exhaust leak. So, I started pulling off fuel injector connectors one at a time to see if I could isolate the cylinder making the noise. We pulled off each one and then reconnected them until we got to cylinder six. I discovered this one to be the culprit and we plugged the connector in and unplugged it several times making sure that the tapping was indeed going away when that cylinder was taken out of the equation. All connectors were firmly plugged back in.
I also took out my K&N filter and replaced it with a stock one since the K&N seemed to be letting a lot of dust through. At this time, I pulled off the air hose from the throttle body to see what kind of accumulation of gunk was in there. It wasn't bad, but I gently wiped around the inside to remove a layer of dust.
Finally, my reverse lights weren't working so I figured I needed to replace the neutral-safety switch. I pulled out the old one and put the new one in and still had the problem. I figured out what the issue was (still not fixed, but I won't go into that here), but the important thing to keep in mind is that I adjusted the gear shift cable as it goes into the transmission. I believe it is properly set since the Jeep will only start in park and neutral as it should.
So, that's it...the problem I'm experiencing and all of the things I did right before the problem started. Any thoughts on what the underlying issue might be and how to solve it?
I thought maybe it was a computer issue, so I disconnected the battery and let it sit for an hour hoping it would reset (not sure if that would actually reset it or not, but I thought it was worth a try). At any rate, the issue is still present. Any help would be much appreciated.
The Symptoms:
I did some tinkering around on the Jeep this past Saturday and now I am having some issues with my accelerator. When I first start the Jeep up and begin moving everything is OK, but then after having driven a few hundred feet, there is absolutely minimal resistance for the first half inch or so as I apply pressure to the gas pedal. In fact, barely touching the pedal causes it to depress that half inch and the Jeep lurches forward; it's kind of like an all or nothing situation. I also noticed that if I let the accelerator depress that half inch where there is very little resistance I will continue to gain speed (I got all the way up to 65 MPH before letting up on the pedal) even without applying more pressure to the pedal (i.e. accelerator stayed in same position).
Another strange thing, I can be driving along experiencing the problem in drive and if I pull it down into second gear, the lack of resistance in the pedal will go away immediately, in fact the pedal almost feels a little too stiff. However, after 15-20 seconds in second, the lack of resistance starts up again.
I'm not sure if this is related or not, but I also noticed that when stopped at a red light with the transmission in drive, my RPMs will jump around between 500 and 1,000. It's not a huge increase, but it's noticeable.
What I did that Might Have Caused the Problem:
So, on Saturday I decided to see if I could figure out what was causing a tapping I've got in my engine (a whole other story), I decided that it was coming from the actual engine and not an exhaust leak. So, I started pulling off fuel injector connectors one at a time to see if I could isolate the cylinder making the noise. We pulled off each one and then reconnected them until we got to cylinder six. I discovered this one to be the culprit and we plugged the connector in and unplugged it several times making sure that the tapping was indeed going away when that cylinder was taken out of the equation. All connectors were firmly plugged back in.
I also took out my K&N filter and replaced it with a stock one since the K&N seemed to be letting a lot of dust through. At this time, I pulled off the air hose from the throttle body to see what kind of accumulation of gunk was in there. It wasn't bad, but I gently wiped around the inside to remove a layer of dust.
Finally, my reverse lights weren't working so I figured I needed to replace the neutral-safety switch. I pulled out the old one and put the new one in and still had the problem. I figured out what the issue was (still not fixed, but I won't go into that here), but the important thing to keep in mind is that I adjusted the gear shift cable as it goes into the transmission. I believe it is properly set since the Jeep will only start in park and neutral as it should.
So, that's it...the problem I'm experiencing and all of the things I did right before the problem started. Any thoughts on what the underlying issue might be and how to solve it?
I thought maybe it was a computer issue, so I disconnected the battery and let it sit for an hour hoping it would reset (not sure if that would actually reset it or not, but I thought it was worth a try). At any rate, the issue is still present. Any help would be much appreciated.
